Manager

      ”…I’m Malkuth, head of the Control Team! Sorry for being late!”       “Malkuth, you’re the boss here, and bosses aren’t late, they’re delayed!”       “Ah… what?”       “Manager, please don’t encourage other people’s shortcomings. Malkuth, please be more punctual. Get everything ready for the meeting. Manager, if you’ll excuse me, I have to leave for a moment. I’ll meet you in your office. Try not to stay too long.”       This is only the third time, but I’m already getting tired of these repetitions! And I can’t get rid of them! Add it to my bad mood at the fact that I screwed up the whole EGO on nothing, and you can understand my desire to leave immediately after Angela. But I can’t — the Script, damn it. And I also have a sneaking suspicion that a heart-to-heart talk with the Sephiroths is necessary if I want to get out of here.       “Angela’s not in the mood today.”       “Yeah? That’s not good… Do you know how to placate her?”       “Placate Angela? I’m not sure that’s even possible.”       “Just because you don’t know how to do something doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Okay, tell me, why are you were late anyway?”       “The printer didn’t print the documents for today’s briefing. It just didn’t print, whatever I did! Maybe it was a terminal malfunction or something, but I had to go and print somewhere else.”       Hmm, the printer didn’t print, you say? And that made Malkuth late? Maybe it was Angela’s shenanigans?.. Well, great, now I’m thinking that maybe it’s because of Angela that Malkuth is always late! Oh, I probably shouldn’t look everywhere for her hand, just to save my nerves, my mood is already crappy…       And then there was a banging on the door.       “I can’t take it anymore! Are you our new Manager? I want to get out of here, please! I know you can fire me! Please, I’m begging you!”       My mood immediately went even lower. Ah, to hell with him! I don’t want to bother with him, or listen to his pleas!       “You’re fired! Go pack your bags and wait for them to come and escort you out.”       “Really?! Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!”       “Sir, that was my employee. You should have left him to me. Besides…”       “You’re the one I’m leaving him on!” — I interrupted Malkuth’s wailing. — “Make sure there’s no more trouble from this individual! And the sooner the better!”       “Ah… Yes, of course, sir, don’t worry about it! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve to go, you see…”       “Yes, I see. Good luck to you.”       After seeing her off, I sighed and looked around the conference room. Somehow I hadn’t paid attention to its interior before. The screens with the logo of the Corporation on one wall, the pipes on the other, the intercom panel on the third, and the bare wall with the door. Oh, and also a big desk and chairs. Yeah, my office would be more stately, though it also doesn’t shine with refinement.       I stood there, looking at the meager furnishings. I didn’t feel like going back to my office, but I didn’t want to stand there either. Hmm, maybe take a walk around the complex sometime after work? Not that there is much to see, judging by the pictures from the cameras… Ah, well, some other time.       I glanced around the room one more time, and then slowly made my way back to the office. I should make a simpler face. And think about something good, because I was always thinking about bad things. I tried to think of something positive, and, as expected, did not succeed. Brilliant…       “Sir, I apologize for this unfortunate incident. I’m responsible for the security of your office, but I forgot to keep an eye on the conference room…”       “Don’t be, Angela, it’s just a minor inconvenience —unfortunate, but not fatal. At least for you and me. Let’s not talk about it.” — I said, waving it off.       “If you say so. Would you like to see the file of today’s abnormality?”       “I would.” — I actually did not like it, for I had managed to reread it twenty times, but, actually, why not reread it for the twenty-first time?       And then another discovery awaited me — the column “code designations” was empty. I didn’t get the humor…       “Angela, what is this column and why is it empty?”       “It was an experimental introduction by one of your predecessors. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to realize his idea to the end.”       She’s lying, it’s clear as day. But then why is the column empty? Well, if you think about it, than you conclude Button, apparently, can corrupt data from Angela’s servers or whatever she has. Damn, that’s not good. Who knows what else it might have corrupted? What if it corrupts the files with the security protocols, and then Angela just kill me without any warning or reason? Nonono! Never take the Button under any circumstances!       “I see. Um… Can I put my designation here?”       “You can, although I don’t recommend it because it might cause confusion.”       “I’ll do it though. Hmm…” — I pretended to think about the new designation, and then I gave Skull Jesus his name back. I get that his old name is symbolic and all, but I don’t give a damn.       From there on, it was just as usual. Of course, I remembered to order the restoration of the biomonitoring system. Other than that — no surprises, no trouble, nothing worth mentioning. Except… I could be wrong, but didn’t we start later than usual today? But even if we did, what’s the difference?

***

      “You did well, Manager.”       “Yeah, whatever you say. When the supper?”       “It’s not ready yet, so you’ll have to wait a while.”       “Okay, I will.”       There was silence in the office. Angela, as usual, stood nearby as a monument to herself and was in no hurry to continue the conversation, apparently thinking that I was not in the mood. That was partly true, but now that I was just sitting there doing nothing, and she was just standing there in silence, I felt awkward. Maybe I should talk to her? Build a bond, so to speak? Yeah, but what’s there to talk about? I can’t think of anything to talk about besides work. Yeah, that’s just sad…       Then my gaze focused on the pile of papers that lay right in front of me. As you remember, I have already looked through it all, and now I can safely conclude that, with some exceptions, all this waste of paper belongs in the furnace. At best, in the archives. But not on my desk!       “Listen, Angela, do all these accounting documents really have to be here, or can they be put away somewhere else?”       “I suppose some of these documents can be recycled or archived.”       “Then would you mind taking care of it? I don’t like this mess.”       “All right, sir, I’ll take care of it tonight.”       “Excellent.”       And we were silent again. How uncomfortable it is in this office: the bare metal walls, the lighting, and the large empty space have an overwhelming effect. The cold color palette only intensifies it. When I work I don’t pay attention to that, but now, when I’m not doing anything, it starts to seem to me that this office is specially designed to depress and make people feel claustrophobic. I mean, why not add some decorations or plants? Okay, plants might not survive without sunshine, but can’t you just put some plastic decorative stuff in here? Hell, even some “Long Live The Corporation!” posters would make the atmosphere better. Or just paint the walls in warmer tones!…       And the silence, this silence… Even the ventilation is almost inaudible here. In general I like silence, but when someone else stands over my soul and keeps silent, I feel awkward.       “Angela, what do you usually do at night?” — It’s not that I’m really interested, I just want to break the silence, and I can’t think of anything else.       “At night, I make sure that all kinds of incidents do not occur in the facility.”       “Yeah? You mean it’s unquiet at night?”       “Usually there’s nothing that needs to be interfered with, but there is still a need for some supervision.”       “I see. Aren’t Anomalies a problem at night?”       “No, thanks to the Qliphoth Containment System, we don’t have to worry about them: at night we increase the power of the restraining field to the point where Anomalies went into complete stasis. They can remain in this state for an indefinite period of time… as long as there is energy, of course.”       “And I suppose there is no way to work with Anomalies in stasis?”       “Alas, but as shown by experiments, it makes no sense to work with high power restraining field: anomalies either do not react to work with them and do not produce Enkephalin, or they instantly destabilize and escape.”       “I see.”       And silence again. Crap, when is dinner?…       “Something wrong, sir?”       “Huh? No, everything’s fine. Why do you ask?”       “I’ve been reading a slight but steady decline in your mental health for the last nine minutes, and I can’t identify the exact reason for it.”       “Um… I’m just a little uncomfortable here. I don’t know wh… Waaaaait a minute! How do you detect changes in my mental health?”       “With biometric scanners, of course.”       “Aren’t those the scanners that are used…”       “Your office has a separate biomonitoring system, which is not connected to the general system, if that’s what you mean. It’s functioning normally.”       “Why separate it?”       “Just in case the main system fails. Your safety is one of my top priorities, so I have to be aware of your current status at all times.”       “Did you say 'at all times'?”       “This system is also installed in your apartment, if that’s what you mean.”       “Yes? Do I have cameras and microphones installed, too?”       The question came out involuntarily, but, to my certain surprise, Angela deigned to answer:       “No, sir, with the exception of the previously mentioned scanners there are no tracking devices in your apartment.”       “I see…”       Really? I don’t believe it. Although… 'A' might not like Angela watching him all the time, so he also might forbade the installation of cameras in his room. If that’s true, then for once I agree with him.       There was a silence again. Where’s that darn dinner? I finished the day even later than usual, and I didn’t have to wait while I… Oh, that’s right: in the previous loops I’d been sorting out the papers on my desk, and that would make the dinner time go by without a hitch. Well, that’s just great! And now, with the paperwork sorted out, how am I supposed to pass the time?       “Should I go out?” — Angela suddenly spoke up.       “Huh? Go out? Why?” — I didn’t quite catch the gist of the question.       “I thought you might want to be alone.”       “No, I don’t want to be alone, I…” — I stumbled a little, not certain whether I should put my thoughts into words, but decided — why not? — “Um, Angela, maybe you don’t know this, but when someone stands over people and keeps silent, it makes them feel awkward.”       “Do you want me to talk to you? About what?”       “I’m wondering what to talk with you about as well…”       There was silence again. It didn’t last long, though, because Angela found something to talk about:       “Sir, can you tell me about the City?”       And she’d better not, because of all the possible topics she’d chosen the most inconvenient! Seriously, I know about the City absolutely no-damn-thing! Just want to freaking talk to Angela, so here’s a topic that’s easy to get caught up in! Okay, well, I should just briefly tell her some nonsense and change the subject to a neutral one.       I made as boring a face as possible, to show that topic was of no interest to me at all, and then I started lie:       “There’s nothing to tell about it, it’s just city like city, a big pile of gray, faceless high-rises, distinguished only by the numeral plates.”       “Is that so? But I hear the City has great architecture.”       “Oh, yeah, compared to the shacks in the Backstreets, they’re just luxurious palaces! Which doesn’t make them any less gray or boring. People can’t do architecture and design these days. Take my office, for example.”       “Is there something wrong with it?”       “Yes, there’s a lot wrong with it. The lighting, for instance. Why is it so dim in here? I didn’t measure it, of course, and I’m not familiar with the current technical standards, but shouldn’t it be brighter?”       “Brighter?” — Angela echoed me, and suddenly there was more light. — “Is that better?”       “Better… Is lighting adjustable?”       “Yes, sir.”       “Wow… Are you also adjustable, and if so, where can the settings be changed?”       “Am I in some way unsatisfactory to you?” — my rash question made Angela frown visibly. Damn my big mouth!       “No, no, it’s… just a bad joke. I’m sorry.”       “Try not to joke like that, please.” — her face smoothed out in an instant. — “let’s get back to the previous topic. What else is wrong with your office?”       “Decorating. More precisely, its absence. It’s quite spacious, but the bare gray walls and the lack of decorations make it seem empty. You aren’t really count as a decoration, are you?       You’re not a piece of furniture, though you pretend to be. I realize, of course, that normal decorating of rooms costs money, and our Corporation is stingy and prioritizes functionality over aesthetics, but couldn’t the walls at least be painted in lighter or warmer tones? Or is paints worth their weight in gold these days? As an AI yourself, such little things may seem unimportant to you, but I’m… I’m a little uncomfortable here.       “I’m afraid the decorating works are a bit of a problem at the moment…”       “What works, Angela? I’m not saying that we should just go and redo everything immediately, I’m just complaining about the lack of taste of the planners and those who gave them the task.”       “I see. In that case, I hope I can brighten up your stay here.”       “Yes, so far you’ve more or less succeeded. It’s a pity there are hardly any appropriate topics of conversation.”       “A pity indeed. Oh, by the way, your dinner’s ready. I’ll bring it in a moment, please wait a bit…”

***

      After supper, I didn’t linger to talk and preferred to leave. As usual, I did all my evening chores without a problem and went to bed, but… I was having trouble sleeping again. Everything seemed to be fine, but something was bothering me. And I can’t figure out what’s wrong. I tossed and turned, fluffed the pillow, tried to make myself comfortable, but as soon as I calmed down a little, some strange feeling of discomfort arose.       At some point I opened my eyes to look at the alarm clock. I turned my head toward the nightstand, looked at the time, put my head back. Then my tired brain received sudden thought that my eyes had seen something strange. I open them again, peering into the darkness, trying to figure out what my brain didn’t like, and I see two glowing yellow dots. I stare into those dots, for several long seconds trying to figure out what it is and where it came from. The tired brain, though reluctantly, gave me two possibilities of what it could be: the first was some demon who had come for my soul, and the second was Angela, who had come for my life. I didn’t like both, so I reached over to the nightstand to turn on the lamp.       I fumbled for the light switch, lit the lamp, and… well, yes, it was Angela, who’d have thought? She was standing next to the bed, just looking at me with an expressionless expression on her face. Honestly, she didn’t look any better than the monster of the night, and if I hadn’t been tired, I would have screamed “God damn it demon!” and fought her off with the very same lamp.       Angela, however, continued to stand still and look at me with her unblinking, glowing eyes. I thought she was about to attack and kill me, but she just kept pretending to be a statue.       So there I was, lying there staring at her, and she was standing there staring at me. I’m trying to figure out what she’s doing here, and she herself was in no hurry to do anything. Finally I decided that waiting for death is worse than death itself, and with as calm and serious a face as I could, I asked:       “Angela, did something happen?”       “No, sir.” — she answered in a calm and steady voice.       “Did I oversleep?” — I asked a silly question, because the alarm clearly showed the second hour of the night.       “No, sir.”       “Is there something you want from me?” — I continued to ask stupid questions. Well, I’m tired, what can I do about it?       “No, sir.”       “Then what are you doing here?” — I finally asked the most important question.       “I’m checking on your safety.”       “Yeah? And how is it? Safety, I mean?”       “You’re perfectly safe, you don’t have to worry.” — I doubt that very much…       “Yea-a-ah… I-I-I see…” — I stretched out answer. — “And how often do you… uh… check my safety?”       “Periodically.”       “Yeah… it’s… it’s creepy.” — I said. Entire incident seemed surreal, and I didn’t like anything about it at all.       We were silent. Angela was still standing there, and it didn’t look like she was going to do anything.       “Angela…”       “Yes, sir?       “Are you, uh… done?”       “Yes, sir.”       “Then would you be so kind and… get out of here, eh?”       “As you wish, sir. Good night.”       “Good night, yes…”       Angela slowly walked away, and I stared at the exit door in a dumbfounded state for a while, trying to figure out what the hell was that? I didn’t believe that she was “checking security” at all. I looked around, nothing seemed to have changed: things were still there, nothing had been added or subtracted. I examined my body for traces of the injections: I couldn’t see them visually because of the Perception Filter, but nothing seemed to be there to the touch. What the heck did she want? She hadn’t really come to admire me, had she?!       And that’s her “periodically”… so she’d come in here and stare at me like that before? Wasn’t she the reason I was having trouble sleeping every night from the first to the second day? Maybe it was my self-preservation instincts trying to warn me about the presence of an unfriendly creature. Oh, man, that’s messed up…       In the end I decided to give up on this mystery and go to bed. What is indicative, I fell asleep almost immediately.

***

      “Good morning, sir.”       “Yeah, good morning.” — I shot Angela a suspicious look, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I was in a bad mood, for obvious reasons, but I didn’t want to ask Angela about last night. Moreover, I suspected that she would tell me a lot of lies, and I still would not understand anything. So I did not bother and sat down at the table, which, by the way, was already free of waste paper. As, by the way, from the cactus as well.       “Is something bothering you?”       “Oh, you see, Angela, I had trouble sleeping last night. I don’t even know what it could be connected with…” — There was so much sarcasm in my voice that only the deaf couldn’t notice it.       “I apologize for disturbing you last night. I was just checking to see if you were all right.”       “Checking, yeah… you should have worn a black hoodie so I’d mistake you for the angel of death when I woke up.”       “Are you really were that scared of me?”       “Angela, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw an artificial intelligence looming over me, looking at me with a stone face. What do you think my initial reaction should have been?”       “To be honest, I thought you were going to start swearing.”       “Next time maybe I will. Eh… well, the heck with it.” — I settled down at my desk and took a stack of documents to sign. — “Bring me some tea, please.”       “Of course, sir, just a moment…”       While Angela went to get tea, Malkuth came to me again with a project I was already familiar with. Hmm, the wording seems to be a little different, doesn’t it? Well, whatever, it’s still a project worth pursuing. And then the day went as usual…

***

      ”… And how did it happen?”       “You saw it yourself. Or were you that inattentive?”       “Maybe I really wasn’t paying attention, but what I can’t figure out is, why did Cracozyabra go berserk all of a sudden?”       “Oh, that… Agent Tom panicked while working and attacked the anomaly, causing it to instantly destabilize.”       Well, it’s just a shame — losing on the second day! And because of what? Because of one a panicked jerk! How am I supposed to know if he’s mentally healthy or not if the biomonitoring system isn’t working? They don’t have it written all over their faces whether or not they’re sick, I checked!       What happened? Oh, just a small thing, the “Fragment of the Universe” anomaly, or as I called it, the “Cracozyabra” anomaly, escaped. Tom panicked and attacked her, and she attacked back, killed him in two blows, and started scrambling for the door. I obviously sent the woofers to suppress her, but as soon as they opened the door to the cell, Cracozyabra screamed, and two of the other four went crazy. One of them ran away, the other attacked another, and in the end only Tanya was sane. She’s holding on for now, but I wouldn’t bet a dime on her.       And here I am looking at a frozen frame of this situation. No, it’s not a recording, it’s live, it’s just me stopping time. TT2, yeah. I didn’t see much use for it, except to delay the moment when I had to admit defeat. And the day’s work was almost over. What’s wrong… Am I that bad, or…?       “Sir, should I execute protocol “Silent Night'?”       …a? What is that? My memory tells me it must be something familiar, but no more. Anyway, it can’t get any worse.       “Go ahead, run it.”       “Very well, I’m on it…”       At first the picture on all screens disappeared, instead of which the inscription “Warning! Initialization of protocol “Silent Night”!” appeared. Then I heard a hum, but not the same as before using the TT2 protocol, although it was similar. It grew for about five seconds and then was replaced by some indistinct noise, after which everything stopped and the broadcast from the security cameras resumed. The panicked employees and Cracozyabra were lying on the floor and showed no signs of life, and Tanya and the clerks seemed to be suffering from a migraine attack, but otherwise they seemed fine.       Did I have an ace up my sleeve the whole time?       “Sir, did you forget about the Silent Night Protocol?” — I guess the bewilderment was too much on my face.       “Was I supposed to know about it?”       “The information about it was in the Managers' Reference Manual.”       What reference manual? I looked all over the room, and I didn’t see any handbook. I didn’t look under the bed, but there wouldn’t be a manual, would there?       “I don’t remember anything about one. Would you mind telling me what it is?”       “All right, but order the staff to return the Anomaly to the holding cell. Since the anomaly is pretty heavy, and the rest of the containment team has dropped out, I recommend involving the office staff.”       “Ah, yes, of course…”       Having given all the orders, I started listening.       “So, Manager, you remember what the Qliphoth Containment System is, don’t you?”       “It’s, roughly speaking, the thing that keeps the Anomalies in their cells in some kind of stasis?”       “Actually, you have only described the operation of the first level of the system. However, it has another level whose effect extends to the rooms adjacent to the holding cells. Normally, during the working day it operates in passive mode, but when the Silent Night protocol is executed, its power increases momentarily to a maximum, which instantly neutralizes all Anomalies and unstable employees. Unfortunately, execution of the protocol wastes too much energy, and the amount of energy required for its successful application increases in direct proportion to the number of escaped anomalies and their threat level. Besides, it should not be used more than once a day, otherwise there is a 99% risk of complete failure of the whole QCS and damage of the associated subsystems. For the same reason, it is recommended to end the work day after performing it, because the risk of failure of the QCS in the containment cells increases many times. In any case, try not to bring it to its use.       I checked the collected Enkephalin readings… well, yes, that’s right: they’re really dropped.       “Okay, I get it. Um, by the way, we should do something about the unstable employees, or they might cause trouble when they wake up…”       “They won’t wake up, sir: the containment field at high power has a lethal effect on unstable employees.”       “Oh…” — and this is unpleasant, because I just stayed with one employee. — “And what effect does it have on stable employees?”       “To the stable employees, the field only causes migraines and tremors. At least no other health effects have been found in long-term observation.”       “I see… Okay, thanks for the clarification.”       Well, I will know that I have an opportunity to get out of a difficult situation. However, the fact that I almost got lost on the second day causes me to have a vague concern that I’m not a very good Manager. Man, how am I supposed to determine the health of my employees if the system in charge of that doesn’t work? I hope Yesod can fix it this time as quickly as he did last time.       In fact, I’m have to adjust my plan a little bit. It looks like I was a bit hasty when I decided to take the more dangerous Anomalies at once for the sake of a better EGO. If I had a problem with an not-so-dangerous abnormality now, what would happen next? Right now, of all the agents of the containment team, there’s only one second-tier Tanya left. I have enough “budget” to make up for the losses, but I’m obviously going to have problems with the first-level employees if I don’t manage them more carefully.       By the way, the question of “promotion” of agents, or as I called it, “leveling up”, has been an issue so far. As I noticed, the process of increasing their characteristics during work was rather slow, even taking into account the fact that I still had low-level anomalies. The stats themselves worked pretty much as in the game, and this put me in a bit of a quandary. However, I tried not to think about it too much; there was already a lot that wasn’t very clear. All I need to know is that the higher the characteristics of agents, the more effective they are. And also I need a better EGO, yes.

***

      After the Cracozyabra were thrown back into the cell, the work day was actually over. Angela and I talked a little bit about our current problems (only one agent on the containment team was left), supper was brought to me, and I went back to my room. Only this time I didn’t get ready for bed right away; Angela’s words about the reference manual, which I had never seen, embarrassed me, so I searched the room again.       In general, there weren’t many things in my living room. There were mostly small household items and clothes, but there were some noteworthy things, too. First of all, there were several books on the wall shelves. A sort of scientific reference books on biology, anatomy, machinery, implants, and the like, and they were clearly aimed at specialists. And the information in these books was familiar and quite understandable to me, though quite boring.       Secondly, there was the sideboard. The sideboard stood out because, unlike all the other furniture in the complex, it was apparently made of natural wood and looked very old, though it was in excellent condition. Amidst the plastic and metallic furnishings, it stood out like a prized relic from the past, and yet it somehow managed not to stand out from the general picture.       And thirdly, in the sideboard, in addition to the crystal dishes and silvered cutlery with a floral pattern, there was a bottle of dark glass without a label and an unidentified liquid, sealed with something that looked like wax. Apparently it contained some kind of alcoholic beverage, but I still haven’t opened it. I’m not, shall we say, the biggest drinker of alcohol. Although, given the circumstances, I have serious concerns that sooner or later my hands will reach for the nearest bottle on their own.       Getting back to the topic of the reference manual — I did find it. It turns out that this manual is a thin and simple brochure, which is easy to lose in the pile of blank sheets, from which I actually got it. Why it was there is a mystery in the category of “we’ll probably never know”. There was the most general information about the workflow, like “employees may panic”. And yes, there was a note that in case a quota is filled, but there are anomalies roaming the complex, you can activate Silent Night.       And there was also a note about keeping a close eye on which projects to approve and which innovations to implement, which, by the way, made me think of the fact that there were research projects in the game that served as upgrades. And among them, in particular, there were some kind of bullets that give “bonuses” to employees. Here I have not yet encountered such a thing. On the one hand, I had not yet reached the point where these miracle bullets appeared, but on the other… Should I ask Angela if there is any research that could make my life easier? I’m not likely to get any of those bullets ahead of schedule (if they’re even here, of course), but it doesn’t take money to ask, does it?       I decided it would be better in the morning, so I went to bed. No artificial intelligence bothered me that night.